Sébastien Loeb, the nine-time World Rally Champion, will compete as a substitute driver for the Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse team, in the season opener at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, from 29 April to 1 May, in the DTM championship.
For the first two races, the Frenchman will replace New Zealander Nick Cassidy, who, due to another commitment, will not be able to participate in all races this 2022 season.
Rally legend Loeb will race the Ferrari 488 in the colors of Red Bull's AlphaTauri. He will be teammate of Felipe Fraga, Brazilian, who disputes the entire championship.
For Gerhard Berger, former F1 driver, “Having the most successful rally driver of all time with us at the season opener in Portimão is a real surprise for the fans. The achievements throughout his career speak for themselves.”
However, added Gerhard Berger, “it will be a tough competition, against very strong riders, even for Sébastien Loeb. Defending Nick Cassidy, he will fight for points with the Ferrari AlphaTauri, so I am sure that a champion of his size will be highly motivated for on-track racing.”
Before making his DTM debut, Sébastien Loeb indicates that “throughout my career, I've always liked to try different modalities. The DTM is a well-known championship and as this opportunity arose to compete in it, I accepted, of course. It's an exciting challenge because the driving style is totally different.”
The Frenchman is well aware of the challenge and that he will face the best GT drivers in the world, but he is looking forward to the start of the season: “Now, it's time to work. I will face professional drivers and my last GT3 race was a long time ago. My aim is to find my rhythm as best I can and try to use my experience to convey my opinion to the team about the car's setup.”
“I know it's going to be difficult, but the cars are really fun to drive. These are very fast cars, so I'm looking forward to it,” added Loeb.
The 48-year-old Frenchman has nine world titles and 80 rally victories and is quite familiar with circuit racing, having already participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2006, taking second place, and the World Championship of Touring Cars in 2014 and 2015, reaching third place.
This year, Loeb managed to win the second and seventh stages of the Dakar Rally, finishing second overall. Just a week later, he won the Monte Carlo Rally for the eighth time.
The action starts on the 26th and 27th of April in Portimão, with the official tests, followed by the first two of the 16 sprint races of the season, on the 29th of April and the 1st of May.
Tickets for this event, which will feature many surprises, are now available at official website of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, clicking here.
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